love to paint

Distractions are a constant struggle with homeschooling.  I deal with them very imperfectly, but I have come to realize that there will always be distractions.  We hold ourselves often to an ideal--our house should be clean and picked up, meals always made on time, shopping done, kids happy and quiet.  But, I don't think that is the way life really is.  One friend once told me that she had come to realize that at different phases of her life she needed to accept a different level of cleanliness in her house as well as modifying her own expectations of her cooking.   When we became moms, I think that most of us realized it would be difficult to wash clothes and linens as often as we did before we had kids.  And meals, well, they went from several dishes to one main dish and maybe a side dish for a while if not forever.  If you are like me, you've tried to be supermom and do everything.  It's very hard at times to balance our expectations, our husb...

Recently I shared some thoughts about homeschooling with my sister in law and she suggested that I might post some of my response to her questions here on my blog.  Before I share, let me explain who I am and where I'm coming from. I've been on all sides--public school, private school (to a lesser degree), and homeschooling.  I have a master's degree in education and taught both Elementary and Middle School, have tutored high school math, taught math in a community college GED program, taught unsuccessfully at a private Christian school, and have now been homeschooling for five years (if you count the two years that we formally homeschooled for preschool).  The unsuccessful jaunt is a story in and of itself which I learned a lot from.  But, I think I'll save that for another time... I remember the middle of PK3 and my husband doubted whether or not I could commit to homeschooling.  We were two of those parents who couldn't wait for our kids to start learning, ...

Every once in a while you pick up a book and you think, "Wow!  This is a wonderful book!"  That is just how my family has felt about Young Fredle .  I remember reading Cynthia Voigt's books when I was growing up.  So, I wanted to read this book.  From the first page, her writing was extremely vivid and clever.   Young Fredle is the story of a young mouse who is kicked out of his den and finds himself outside.  The book is the story of his journey.  I don't want to say any more about the plot except to say that I enjoyed all of twists and turns (as did my children who are 2, 5, and 7).  My youngest two often didn't understand what was going on, so we would summarize at the end of each chapter and it gave them a chance to practice listening and paying attention to the store.  The verbal imagery was often also beyond their skill level so we would talk about it.  But, I felt it was still very good to read it to them because it stretch...

I have to admit that when a new picture Bible storybook comes out I am always curious about how it will be different from others that we've read as a family.  Today a new one arrived in the mail. The Beginning Reader's Bible , illustrated by Marijke ten Cate is a little different than other Bible storybooks we have in our house.  I mistakenly assumed that it would be a Bible storybook for early readers, written at a 2nd or 3rd grade reading level.  I did note that the description mentioned that it had excerpts from the ICB, but I assumed these were short.  In actuality, the text is almost entirely excerpts from the International Children's Bible with illustrations.  There are verses in boxes for almost every lesson that are good to repeat and memorize with your children.  There are also scattered boxes titled "Do God's Word" which include ideas for activities to reinforce the theme of the passage or to explain a theological concept such as sin. At first...

Eli, my little boy: I was thinking about you Mommy and I wanted you. Eli:  If me hear Sound, me get you Mommy? A few moments later after I've left the room... Eli:  Mommy, I need you. (Mommy enters the room.) Me: What happens Eli if you hear a sound? Eli:  If me hear sound, I get out of bed and get you. Me:  No Eli, I will take care of any sound.  I love you. It is an amazing thing to me to have an actual conversation with my late talker.  When he turned two, he didn't say a word.  He started speech therapy two months after he turned two.  I learned a lot.  It was very humbling. When I became a parent I resolved not to think that what my kids did or didn't do was about me.  I saw that in my dad when I was a kid.  He took my actions personally when they weren't about him. As our children grow, we want to make sure they're hitting all the benchmarks they need to.  And when they haven't hit one that other child...

I've discovered that I feel a sense of concern about the budding genre of Christian fiction that I would call "Amish Fiction".   You see, I live near Pennsylvania where the majority of Amish live in the United States .   I had a friend who was a Christian while we lived in Pennsylvania whose family was Mennonite.   I remember her sharing with me how her family ostracized her when she married a man who was a Christian, but not a Mennonite.   The Mennonites, Bretheren, and Amish are all Anabaptists.   If you saw a family tree of Protestant Christianity, there would be five branches: 1.   Orthodox   Greek and Russian   Orthodox churches   2.   Anabaptists   - Amish, Mennonite, and Brethren   3.   Lutheran   4.   Anglican   - Most denominations trace their roots to this branch: Baptists, Methodists,           Pentecostals, Episcopal, etc.   5.   Reformed ...

There are many books that come through our house.  Every once in a while, I find one that I think of as a "Must Read".  If anyone chose to ask me (which I would feel very humbled by), what books I'd recommend, these are the books that would jump to my mind.  I just finished the first one for this year.  There are tears in my eyes and I simply want to cry.  But, I'll get to that in a moment.      "Were you really so gullible?...Were you and your pro-choice coworkers really driven by compassion and tenderness, by motives of truly helping women...      I often find that people don't like my answers.      That is understandable.  My story is not neat and tidy, and it doesn't come wrapped in easy answers.  Oh, how we love to vilify our opponents--from both sides.  How easy to assume that those on "our" side are right and wise and good; how those on "their" side are treacherous and foolish and deceptive....

Ugh!  There are times when my stomach and head get so upset by books I read.  What I am most sensitive to when I read nonfiction Christian books is twisted theology.  I just finished reading Hope, Help & Healing for Eating Disorders  by Gregory L. Jantz, PhD with Ann McMurray.  I requested this book for review because I've had several friends over the years who have lived with eating disorders.  I have had my own struggles with my body image and weight over the years as well.   First of all, I don't recommend this book.  At all.  Let me explain why.  This book is very good at explaining the motivations and behaviors of people with eating disorders.  The problem lies in the answers the book gives and the theology that is incorporated into those answers.   When it comes down to it, all eating disorders are about control.  Dr. Jantz explains that before control, though, the roots are found in negative feelings that...

For the most part, I choose to read Christian fiction because I feel safer.  I'm less likely to have my mind led to places it isn't wise for it to go.   A month ago, I read a book that was very disturbing to me.  It was published by a Christian publisher that is thought by many to be one of the most dependable, but there was a lot of crass imagery in the book and lustful thinking by the characters.  I literally thought the characters had made love in the book.  I set the book down and didn't realize they hadn't until I read in another person's review that they hadn't.  But, the language had been that strong.  I did contact the publisher and ask about the decision to publish the book, but I haven't received any response.   I was relating this story to a friend of mine who is single and she commented that she thought that was only a struggle for single women--why did married women need to be concerned with such things?  My response was th...

Over the past year, Thomas Nelson has published a series of books called The Ancient Practices Series.  The books cover such topics as fasting, prayer, tithing, and the liturgical year.  My husband and I were curious about the book by Joan Chittister titled The Liturgical Year .  The book is actually by Sister Joan Chittister.  She belongs to the Benedictine Order.  That is an important piece of information because it tells you what perspective this book is written from--a Catholic perspective.  I was curious as I read the introduction how that would shape the information in the book. It is a very readable book.  But, the one word I would use to describe this book is "hyper-spiritual".  There are some wonderful quotes in this book, but there are also several that verge on the line between Christian and New Age thinking.  And it's very hard for me to discern the difference while I'm reading it.  Sometimes it was very clear in the book a...

A few months ago, I read a devotional entry about suffering and it didn't sit well with me because the author said that God's purpose in suffering was to increase our capacity for joy.  Though God does work in all things for our good, Rom 8:28, I don't believe that we in our finite understanding can say that suffering is to intended to increase our capacity for joy.  After reading that book, I continued to puzzle about suffering and it's place in my life and in the world around me. Someone suggested another book on suffering to me titled Be Still, My Soul, 25 Classic and Contemporary Readings on the Problem of Pain , edited by Nancy Guthrie.  I finished reading it this morning.  It has taken me over a month mentally and emotionally to sift through the essays in this book.  I read several things that will likely stick with me for my lifetime.  The essays are mixture of contemporary and classic readings just as the title said.  I counted how many of t...

What did you learn about the Puritans in school growing up?  What I remember learning is that the Puritans were the people who came over on the Mayflower searching for religious freedom because there was religious persecution in England.  And that's about all I remember learning. I learned a lot more about the Puritans this week because of a children's book I read. The book I read is Simonetta Carr's book on John Owen, a Puritan theologian, from her set of Christian biographies for young readers.  The cover of this book is inviting and might make you think that this is a picture book about John Owen, which it is not.  This book is a solid biography for young readers in grades 3-6.  It is formatted wonderfully, especially for this age group.  The font size and type as well as the background on each page is beautifully done.  The book is very easy to read because of the formatting.  The younger readers may have some difficulty reading ...